First HT Radios

2021-02-21 · 2 min read · Radio Portable Review Baofeng Wouxun ·

So, you have to start somewhere, right? So, of course, I got a cheap Baofeng.

First HT Radios

Baofeng UV-5R

Of course I got a cheap Baofeng, the ubiquitous UV-5R shocking good value for money even if the rubber duck antenna is a bit useless. A great radio to get to grips with listening to local simplex on 2m and repeaters. Learnt how to program it with CHIRP and set up repeaters with offsets and CTCSS tones and used it to listen to my local repeaters, GB3BS and GB3WR. GB3WR in particular has really wide coverage and you get a lot of people on the M5, in Wales and as far up as Dudley using the repeater.

Wouxun KG-UV9K

The Wouxun is the 2nd FM HT I bought and the first I've used to transmit - now I have my callsign. It's a dual receive and dual band, so in theory I could work satellites with it. Maybe a goal for later in the year. Again, I've got myself a better antenna but also been using it with my homemade flower pot dual band antenna which has given me a little more RX range and lowered the noise from the rubber duck.

What next?

I'd like a digital / FM HT at some point, but I can't decide if I want DMR or D-Star, so I might do a little more investigation into digital voice before I dive into another HT. I think the two FM HTs will work for me this year at least.